


Don't know what's ahead, but it won't get the best of me

by fluidfox



Series: Haikyuu!! Pokémon AU [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Asahi is about an inch from having a panic attack at all times, Azumane Asahi-centric, M/M, Oblivious Azumane Asahi, Pokemon, Pokemon Journey, Tokiwa no Mori | Viridian Forest (Pokemon), he's doing his best, some inspiration from the pokemon adventures manga, they're both idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluidfox/pseuds/fluidfox
Summary: In the center of several fallen, broken trees was Nishinoya, his legs pulled up to his chest protectively. The harsh rain forced his hair out of its usual style. A huge, yellow beast circled him in a way Asahi couldn’t determine as protective or predatory. Its eyes darted to meet Asahi’s, red irises seemingly aglow. Tanaka stood on the opposite side of the destruction, grasping his bloodied arm.“Asahi!” Noya called. “Don’t come any closer! It’ll attack you!”“Why- whe- wha-” Asahi felt blood drain from his face. “What the fuck!?”“I don’t know!” Noya screamed desperately.----Nishinoya and Asahi have an encounter with an unknown pokemon, which sends them off on a quest in the Kanto region.This is part of a Haikyuu!! Pokemon AU series, but can be read standalone.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu
Series: Haikyuu!! Pokémon AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923349
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally intended for this to be ~5000 words, but uh... that didn't happen.  
> At least I gave a name to the region they're from (even if it's not very inspired).
> 
> CW: This chapter contains some mild violence that isn't described in too much detail.

After the insane shenanigans his friends got up to, Asahi thought he was immune to just about every kind of surprise life could throw at him. Tanaka and Nishinoya were always getting into trouble with people who didn’t understand their undying energy, Tsukishima sometimes sassed the wrong people, Daichi and Suga, his old friends, had some sort of crisis at their pokemon nursery about once every few weeks, Yachi would panic about the tiniest problems… he could go on and on. Of course, he never stopped getting anxious about every little thing, but it had been a while since he last felt truly shocked by any situation. Once he’d gotten a call at 3 AM on a Tuesday from Nishinoya stating that he’d gotten his head stuck in drying cement, passed out, and woke up with his scalp completely encased in solid stone, he stopped expecting anything normal to happen.

As such, Asahi barely dwelled on the strange phone call he’d just gotten. Tanaka was shouting something about Nishinoya, and before he even finished, Asahi just asked where they were and biked there. They were hanging out in the woods, apparently. It was a clear and warm night, so they were probably camping or something.

Once he neared the clearing Tanaka told him about, his typical anxiety began festering. Were they attacked? Did Noya break his legs? Maybe they ate something sketchy, like some kind of mushroom, and started hallucinating? Asahi shook his head and pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Whatever it was, he’d probably already seen it before.

Then he noticed the bizarre storm cloud looming over his destination. A freak storm, Asahi figured. Even if it was supposed to be totally clear in the surrounding area, weather could be unpredictable. Maybe they were surprised by the sudden rain and called Asahi to whine.

Then, when he climbed the hill blocking his direct view, he saw a huge tree on fire. _Oh dear_.

He quickly grabbed the pokeball on his belt and stopped his bike near the blaze. With a toss of the ball, he shouted, “Clefairy! Rain dance!”

His tiny pink pokemon phased into the world and chirped affirmatively, dancing to create a small raincloud over the flaming tree. Once the fire was reduced to some scattered smolders, Asahi wiped his brow and recalled his pokemon. Whatever was happening, it probably wasn’t good. He continued down the trail with a gnawing pit in his stomach.

“Just run, Ryuu!” Nishinoya’s voice called up ahead.

“I won’t run!” Tanaka shouted back. “I’m not ditching you here! You might die! No way I’m leaving you here alone!”

Asahi briefly wondered if they should have called the police instead of their good, responsible, always-dealing-with-weird-crap friend, but his mind swiftly filled with terror. Die? Why would he die?

A tremendous roar answered Asahi’s question pretty well.

_What the hell was that!?_ He frantically pedaled until he could see what was happening.

In the center of several fallen, broken trees was Nishinoya, his legs pulled up to his chest protectively. The harsh rain forced his hair out of its usual style. A huge, yellow beast circled him in a way Asahi couldn’t determine as protective or predatory. Its eyes darted to meet Asahi’s, red irises seemingly aglow. Tanaka stood on the opposite side of the destruction, grasping his bloodied arm.

“Asahi!” Noya called. “Don’t come any closer! It’ll attack you!”

“Why- whe- wha-” Asahi felt blood drain from his face. “What the fuck!?”

“I don’t know!” Noya screamed desperately.

“This thing just suddenly leapt in and started destroying stuff!” Tanaka explained. “Then it tried to drag Noya away, so I tried to stop it, and it attacked me!”

Asahi thought he was immune to pretty much every kind of surprise life could throw at him.

He was very, very wrong.

The beast snarled at Asahi, its purple mane dancing in the rainy wind.

“Tanaka, go get help! Ukai, Daichi and Suga, the Police- I don’t know! Get someone!” Asahi yelled as his knees quivered. He’d never seen something this terrifying in his life. The pokemon- he assumed it was some kind of pokemon- was completely foreign to him, as well as to Noya and Tanaka, apparently. Something seemed familiar about it, but Asahi couldn’t pin down what. Regardless, if they wanted to get Noya out of this, they needed more than two people.

Tanaka cautiously circled back to the trail, freezing with every growl the creature made. Once he reached Asahi, he began to sprint down the trail. How long would it take for Tanaka to get back to town by running? 15 minutes? A half hour? He hoped Tanaka would call someone while he was running.

Slowly, Asahi lifted a foot and placed it in front of him. Scared as he was, he wasn’t about to let some crazy monster kill a friend, much less one that Asahi may or may not have had a crush on for a really long time. He repeated the motion to propel himself forward in such an awkward and slow manner that he wouldn’t have called it walking. Even with all his caution, the pokemon still began growling at him.

“Asahi, please, just stay there! Whatever it is, it’s got electric power way stronger than anything I’ve ever seen!” Noya cried. Asahi could’ve sworn he’d seen tears forming in his eyes if not for the rain. “It summoned this storm in, like, two seconds! It destroyed this whole area with one blow! It set a tree on fire!”

Undeniably, his entire body was quivering with fear. It hurt Asahi to watch the man; he’d never seen him this terrified. But Asahi understood. He was shaking just as badly.

“I’m not letting this thing hurt you, Noya. I can’t let it drag you away, either,” he answered as calmly as he could.

“I don’t want you getting attacked! Not Ryuu, and certainly not you! Ryuu was already hurt badly, I don’t want you risking your life here, too!”

Another step, and the beast roared, its voice powerful enough to even make the trees tremble. Asahi flinched, but he didn’t let up. He was only about two meters away from Noya. If he could just-

He saw the armored head lunge at him, its fangs protruding threateningly from its maw, and Asahi blacked out.

\----

Hard. Something prodding at his back. A faint noise. Hands on his shoulders. Shaking.

Asahi opened his eyes slowly, groggy and disoriented. His blurred spots of vision collected into Noya’s face, eyes red with tears.

“Thank fuck,” he wimpered. Unceremoniously, he collapsed onto Asahi’s chest.

The sudden weight made Asahi cough in surprise, but he lifted a hand and patted his friend on the back. “What… Noya? What’s going on?” He blinked, expecting his vision to clear further, but everything remained dark. “Why is it so dark?”

Nishinoya tried to sit back up, but he fell back onto Asahi, nearly sobbing.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Where-“ He glanced around. “Where are we?

Noya sniffed, but didn’t raise his head. “I don’t know where we are. I was- I thought you might never wake up.” His voice cracked a bit. “I’ve been trying to wake you for so long…” He gripped Asahi’s shirt and took a deep breath. “You’re alive. Everything’s gonna be okay, now.”

“I’m alive- why wouldn’t I be alive?” Suddenly, he remembered; the previous events flashed in the front of his mind. With a gasp, he sat up, heart pumping. He clutched Noya to his chest. “Are you hurt!? Did I pass out!? Am I hurt!? Where is that thing!?”

Noya chuckled a bit and wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m okay. I now know that you’re okay, too. You have some cuts, though. And, uh…” He pointed to Asahi’s right.

Apparently, they were in a cave. Asahi glanced at the spot Noya pointed at, where the beams of light from the sunrise were starting to filter through. He squinted, momentarily blinded, and looked closer.

It was there. The creature was sitting just a few meters away from them, sat in a loaf-like, lounging position.

He screamed.

“Hold on, hold on!” Noya giggled. “It’s not attacking us anymore.”

Indeed, the beast seemed calm. It stared at Asahi with a peaceful gaze, nothing like the hostile, piercing glare from a few hours ago.

He swallowed nervously, then released Noya from his tight grasp. “How… did we get here?”

“That thing brought us. It tried to carry just me away, but I kept, uh…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I kept scrambling to get to you, so I think it just gave up and brought you, too. Honestly, though, I was so worried about you that I wasn’t paying attention to where we were going, so I really have no clue where we are.”

The idea of Noya caring that much about him made Asahi happy in a rather guilty way. Noya rarely got upset enough to cry.

Before Asahi could say anything, the creature stood up and walked toward them. He instinctively put an arm around Nishinoya and placed himself in front of him, but the pokemon seemed to harbor no ill intentions. Even so, Asahi wasn’t about to let Noya get dragged off again. Not on his life.

Noya, on the other hand, seemed completely unafraid. He put a hand on Asahi’s shoulder. “Hang on, let me… talk to it. It feels like it’s trying to tell me something…”

If it were anyone other than Nishinoya, Asahi would’ve called them an idiot and further sheltered them from the potential looming threat. But it was Noya. Asahi always had a hard time saying no to him.

Once Asahi backed down, Noya crawled forward to the beast. It bowed its head slightly and touched their foreheads together. It was strangely careful and intimate for a creature that had been so violent.

Noya’s eyes widened, but he sat still. Asahi watched closely, ready to jump in if anything went wrong, but nothing did. They sat there, heads touching together, for several seconds. The silence only made Asahi’s nerves grow.

“It wants our help,” Noya suddenly said.

Asahi blinked. “What?”

“Its friend is hurt. It wants us to help it. It’s not willing to let any people or pokemon near it for some reason…”

“How do you know all this? I know you’re cool and all, but I don’t think I’d ever believe you can talk to pokemon.”

“It’s not like I’m talking to it, I just… I get what it’s putting down, y’know?”

“I really don’t, but if you say so…”

Noya closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders. “It’s… sick, somehow. Here at this- hold on, we’re in a volcano!?”

Asahi choked.

“It’s… desperate. It doesn’t know what to do.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand. Why can I understand you? How would we be able to help? Why us?”

Asahi nodded. Those were the questions he was considering, too.

“It doesn’t know why I can understand it. It could sense something from me. Some kind of… bond?”

“You’re connected or something?” Maybe it had something to do with the blond streak in his hair he was born with, Asahi mused to himself. His anxiety then slapped any witty thought he had right out of his head.

Noya shrugged. “Pokemon have always liked me. Maybe I’m special or something.” He flashed a goofy grin before refocusing on the creature. “It thinks I must be trustworthy since I have that pokemon vibe or whatever the hell it’s talking about. You’re just here because I- hey! I wasn’t that pathetic! I was worried about him! You attacked him!”

The beast grunted at him, but didn’t move. Asahi laughed nervously.

“I guess it just hopes I’m able to do something. Anything. Its other friend wasn’t able to help it. Something… went wrong?” Noya sighed. “Listen, this sounds really important, so I’ll do whatever I can, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to do much. I’m not too great at taking care of my own injuries, much less anyone else’s. And I don’t have any magical healing powers.”

The beast looked at Asahi.

“Asahi? He’s not medically trained or anything. I guess he’d be more reliable than me- hey!” Noya’s face flushed brightly. “It’s not like that! He- we- he’s my best friend!”

That made Asahi blush, too. Did it think they were lovers or something? _Hah. I wish_.

Noya listened to whatever the creature was saying for a moment. “Alright, I think we should try to help.” He looked at Asahi with a serious demeanor. “If you don’t want to or you don’t think it’s safe, we can try to get out of here. I’ll trust your judgement. I don’t even have my own judgement.” He laughed at his last sentence.

“Well…” Asahi still didn’t feel safe around the massive pokemon, but if it truly needed help, then Asahi naturally felt the urge to do so. Curse his empathy. “I guess we can give it a try.”

Noya grinned. “This should be interesting.”

\----

The creature, which Asahi had mentally began calling “the lightning beast,” lead them further down into the cave. The caverns twisted and turned, growing darker and darker by the second. Eventually, Nishinoya brought out his jolteon to help light their way with a contained electro ball. Both men began to sweat more and more as the temperature rose higher and higher. After a few minutes of walking, Asahi began to truly believe that they were, indeed, in a volcano: Mount Pyricius, he assumed.

“Shit, I’m glad I didn’t wear pants yesterday,” Noya whined.

Asahi nodded. “At least it’s not so hot that it’s suffocating. That’s a plus, I guess.”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be, what, 33 Celsius?”

“Something like that, I’ll bet.”

A dim, red glow began to light the walls of the cave. With it, the lightning beast picked up speed. They were close.

Sure enough, the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern. The floor at their level continued around the walls in a circle, only to drop down sharply in the center, making the ground appear ring-like. It almost looked as though someone had clipped the entire area with a giant hole puncher. A soft, orange light emanated from deep within the hole, lighting the cave with a gentle glow. Asahi assumed that there must have been lava at the bottom of the pit. On the ground, about halfway between their current location and the sudden drop, lay a creature similar in size to the lightning beast. It sported a fiery maroon coat. A smokey grey mane, wild and curled, draped down the pokemon’s back, sitting snugly between two sets of silvery, spiky plates that erupted from its back. Its face was adorned with bright red armoring on the sides, a yellow brow, and a grey plate similar to the ones on its back around its mouth. This creature, too, had sharp red eyes that seemed to pierce Asahi’s soul. He could immediately tell that this was the lightning beast’s friend.

When they stepped into the cavern, the red pokemon growled at them defensively. It raised its head, revealing a beige stripe of fur running down its neck, and coated its fangs with fire briefly in warning. The lightning beast barked at it and approached it, seemingly telling it to calm down.

Noya, ever the brave and possibly stupid soul, walked right up to the creature (the fire beast, Asahi supposed), then sat in front of it. He smiled at it and looked over its body. “What’s wrong with it?” he asked the lightning beast.

The yellow pokemon nudged the fire beast until it rolled onto its side, exposing the hard plating protecting its underside. The problem became obvious; the plate was cracked severely and had a large wound directly over its chest.

Noya gasped slightly and extended a hand, but retracted it when the fire beast growled at him. Asahi couldn’t tell if the creature was bleeding, but with a wound like that, it was probably safe to assume it was, at least at one point. He felt sorry for the beast. It was probably immensely powerful, just like its friend, but that wound looked downright nasty.

A deep huff from behind Asahi startled him enough that he fell over. He scrambled to look at what made the noise and was met with yet another pair of blazing eyes. This beast, however, was sleek and blue. Two ribbon-like tails danced at its sides, which were patterned with white diamonds matching the white underside of the beast. A deep blue, hexagonal crest with a hole in the center rose from its forehead. The structure looked strong, yet somehow delicate, just like a crown. From the base of its head, a brilliant purple mane flowed down its back.

It opened its mouth in a way that Asahi recognized as the beginning of a bubble beam attack, and he braced himself, but the lightning beast roared at it. Its cry echoed about the chamber for many seconds before silence finally fell.

“H-hey there,” Asahi sputtered.

The new arrival (the water beast; Asahi decided to keep with the theme) walked over to where the fire beast was sprawled across the rock, observing Nishinoya cautiously. It clearly wasn’t happy with two strangers so close to its injured friend.

Suddenly, Noya spoke up. “The blue one can heal, but for some reason, this red pokemon can’t be healed. Something is strange about the injury, that much is obvious.” He looked up at the lightning beast. “What can I do? Does it need something?”

The water beast touched its forehead to Nishinoya’s, just as the lightning beast had done earlier. Asahi approached them slowly, then stood behind Noya once he was close enough. He just couldn’t shake his anxiety enough to not be next to him.

“Well, this is all really strange. The blue one says it wants us to go to Kanto.”

Asahi’s brows tightened. “Kanto? Like, where you were born?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It even wants us to go to the forest next to the city I was born in.” Noya sighed. “I haven’t been to Viridian City in years. I’m not too sure it’d be a quick trip.”

Asahi considered the possibility of his friend leaving for another region by himself. It didn’t sit well. “Why Viridian City? Is there something there?”

Noya broke the connection between his forehead and the water beast’s and nodded. “It says there’s some kind of water deep in the forest. It’s special, for some reason. Or maybe it’s dew? I’m not really sure.” Noya stood up and brushed off his shorts. “I guess it’s supposed to be super powerful with healing stuff. It says it’s their last hope.”

Asahi shook his head. “I’m still confused, what happened to the fire beast?”

“Hmm…” He stared at it for a moment, then touched his forehead to his. “It got into a really intense fight. It went deep into the caves, so far down that it was almost swimming in lava, and then it ran into a huge monster. It was dormant, but it woke it up, and it got angry. It was able to escape, but not before it struck it with stone.”

“There was an earthquake about a week ago,” Asahi remarked.

Noya nodded. “I think the giant monster did that.”

Asahi bit his lip and crossed his arms. “So will you go, then? To Kanto?”

Nishinoya thought for a moment, then nodded. “I think it’s the right thing to do. I want to help this pokemon. Even if I have to go out of my way to do it, these big, powerful creatures seem to trust me. They can’t get there themselves.” He looked back down at the wound on the fire beast. “They need me.”

Asahi sighed, then spoke before he even had a chance to think about his words: “I’ll go with you.”

Noya seemed surprised. “You will? It might take a long time, and it’s not-“

“I want to help you.”

A smile creeped across Noya’s face. “Thanks. I really didn’t want to go alone.”

Asahi smiled back. “I’ll always have your back.”

Jolteon nuzzled up against Asahi’s legs. The little guy seemed happy, too.


	2. Chapter 2

Holy shit, what was Asahi thinking? _Yeah, I’ll just drop everything, run off on a big magical quest with the guy I’ve been pining after for years, dig around in a forest I’ve never been to for who knows how long, and come right back to heal the giant monster friend of the giant monster that tried to kill me and kidnapped one of my favorite people in the entire world. No big deal. Holy shit._

Riding on the back of the beast that kidnapped him back to town made Asahi feel like he was being delivered to the afterlife. It ran faster than anything he’d ever seen, and the gash on his chest served as a stern reminder of what had happened the previous night, making Asahi fear his life was on the verge of ending as he clung desperately to the mane.

After the overwhelming developments he’d just experienced, Asahi found himself in a haze until Noya showed up at his house with two boat tickets to Vermillion City. The tickets demanded that they leave in one day. Thus, as Noya had told him, they had to leave. Now.

Before he knew it, he was saying goodbye to his friends at the gym and giving Daichi and Suga a call with an update on where he was going. The majority of the day had passed before Asahi had even realized it. He took all his necessities and walked off to the road connecting Pluma Town to the nearest place with a train station, Nishinoya by his side.

“Asahi. Asahi. Asahi? Asahi!”

He snapped out of whatever fog his head was swimming in and turned to Noya. “Huh?”

“You doing alright? You seem really out of it.”

He wanted to say he was fine. He wanted to reassure Nishinoya that he was going to be okay, but his mouth wouldn’t let him. Instead, he buried his face in his hands and let out a muffled cry of exasperation.

Noya’s eyes were wide. “Woah. Uh, that’s a no?”

With a deep breath, he dropped his hands and lifted his head. “Yeah, no, this is fucking insane.”

He giggled. “I haven’t heard you swear in a long time. That bad, huh?”

“You’re not freaking out!?”

Noya let out a belly laugh. “I mean, I guess a tiny bit, but it’ll be alright. We’re doing a good thing, y’know? And anyways, I’ve got you, so…” He smiled sheepishly. “Everything is gonna be fine. When you’re around, everything seems to turn out alright.”

Asahi turned his head to hide the blush he knew was forming. “Well, same goes for you.”

“Have you ever been to Kanto?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then you should start getting excited! It’s got a way different vibe than Hyuukai. It’s really pretty everywhere you go!”

Asahi chuckled. “You seem pretty excited.”

“Yeah, kinda. Mostly.”

“What does that mean?”

Nishinoya contemplated whatever was on his mind. “Well, there’s a reason I left. I’m not too thrilled about going back to Viridian City. It’s not like it’s a bad place, I just have some… stuff there.”

The statement worried Asahi, but he pushed down his urge to ask further. No matter how worried Asahi was, he wasn’t one to pry. “We can totally avoid it if you want. If we’re going to Vermillion, then we could probably get to the forest without going into the city.”

He grinned. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.” He bounced into the air. “We get to see so much stuff!”

Asahi couldn’t help but smile. “Remember why we’re going there, though.”

“Duh! We’ve got this!”

\----

The train ride kinda sucked. Somehow, they caught the most upsetting one possible. Every third person on board were screaming at someone on the phone, while anyone quiet slept on the seats. Some of them even looked dead. It was a weird vibe, overall, and Noya had to reassure him a few times that he’d “protect him” and give him a pat on the back or a bump on the shoulder. At their third stop, a stranger decided to sit directly next to Noya despite the abundance of open seats. That prompted Noya to lean on Asahi’s shoulder for the rest of the ride, the best thing to happen to him in a long time. He had it bad. There was no question about that.

Once they were finally off the strange train (which, unfortunately, meant Noya stopped touching him), they picked up some food and checked into a hotel. Asahi probably shouldn’t have been so nervous about sleeping in the same room as Nishinoya. It wasn’t like they were sharing a bed, and they’d slept in the same room several times before. The only difference was the lack of their other friends; he’d never slept in the same room as Noya _alone_.

When they’d finally settled down for the night, Noya was quick to pass out, but Asahi couldn’t calm his nerves. Noya was really, really cute. Asahi thought he might die. When he slept, he spread out as much as he could, his limbs stuck out every which way and his sheets tangled around his legs. The man had no right to be that adorable and that smoking hot.

Eventually, Asahi had to wrap his face up in floppy pillows to keep himself from staring.

\----

“Boat time! Boat time!” Nishinoya leapt into the air and clung to Asahi’s back, gripping tighter when Asahi stumbled.

“Y-you’re gonna choke me, Noya,” he coughed.

The shorter man jumped down and elbowed Asahi in the side. “You big baby.”

He handed the tickets to the collector and started up the ramp. “I’m not a baby, you’re just a gremlin.”

“If I’m a gremlin, then you’re some kind of orc. But prettier. And nicer.”

Asahi raised an eyebrow. “Then I’m not remotely an orc, am I?”

“And I’m way too sexy to be a gremlin.”

“Who says gremlins can’t be sexy?” Asahi chuckled, trying to contain his flush.

“Who says orcs can’t be nice and pretty?”

“Alright, alright, you got me.” He nudged Nishinoya’s shoulder.

_Wait. Fuck. Did he just call me pretty?_

“Dude, this boat is way nicer than I thought it’d be.”

Noya definitely had a point. Inside the boat sat a gorgeous lounge where passengers socialized and drank from a juice bar. It almost looked like a cruise ship rather than an overnight transportation vessel. Several pokemon roamed about, investigating the new environment and playing with each other. Nishinoya released his jolteon, who seemed very excited to meet all the new pokemon. Asahi chuckled and decided to send out arcanine, too. He would love to make some new friends. Clefairy, not so much. She was much too shy for this kind of environment.

“I can take our stuff to our cabin,” Asahi offered.

“Alrighty! I’m gonna go get some juice. It looks like they’ve got tamato berry!

Asahi winced. “Tamato juice!? What is wrong with you!?”

“Oh, it’s not such a big deal.” He smirked. “It’s got a real kick to it.”

“Yeah, it’s only one of the spiciest berries in the entire world. No big deal.” Asahi rolled his eyes and started hauling their luggage.

\----

When he got back, he found Nishinoya sitting in a sofa by the corner, lips swelling from the red drink in his hand. Next to him was a tall, lanky man with spiked red hair who seemed to be in a similar state from his drink.

“Asahi! Look, this guy came up to get tamato juice at the same time I did!”

“Tamato and rowap,” the stranger explained.

“Rowap? As in, the absurdly sour berries?”

He winked and took a quick sip. “You betcha.” The powerful flavor made the man shake his head violently and let out a “whoo!”

Wow. Someone ever crazier than Noya.

“I’ve never tried that combo,” Noya told him. “Is it good?”

“Oh, it’s awful. That’s why I love it.” He grinned- an expression that somehow felt unsettling to look at.

Asahi took a seat next to Nishinoya and watched him drink his own cup of juice, rips getting redder with every sip. “You’re both insane,” Asahi laughed.

“Thank you!” The stranger put a hand to his heart. “I aspire to disturb.”

That made Noya laugh. “What’s your name, dude?”

“Tendo Satori. Pleasure to meet a fellow terrible juice enthusiast.”

Tendo… Tendo… the name sounded slightly familiar, but Asahi couldn’t remember where he would’ve heard it.

  
“I’m Nishinoya Yuu. The big guy is Azumane Asahi.” He took another sip and cried out a bit. “Goin’ to Kanto, too, huh?”

Tendo nodded, a goofy little smile painting his face. “I’ve always wanted to check out Mount Moon. I wanna hang out with some clefairy and clefable. I kinda vibe with them, y’know?”

“Oh, I have a clefairy!” Asahi told him. “She’s pretty shy, but I love her to death.”

Tendo’s eyes widened intensely with excitement. “Ooh! Can I see her?”

“Well, alright, but if she gets uncomfortable, I won’t make her stay out.” He released clefairy onto his lap and gave her a rub on the head. The second she realized where she was, she tensed a bit.

“Ehh… wow, what a critter.” Tendo inspected her closely, head tilting. When clefairy whimpered a bit, he smiled and leaned away. “Yeah, she seems upset. I won’t make her stay out any longer.”

Asahi nodded and put clefairy back in her pokeball. Tendo was a strange guy, but he seemed surprisingly considerate.

“Poor clefairy,” Noya whined. “Maybe she’ll get more used to people someday.”

“Yeah, well, I get how she feels,” Tendo replied cryptically. He took a huge swig of his lethal juice cocktail.

“Not much of a people person?” Noya asked.

“Eh. People don’t usually get me, y’know? But you and Azumane seem cool, Nishi-kun.”

“Aw, you flatter me.” Noya nudged Asahi. “This guy looks tough, but he’s timid as all hell.”

“Hey! Noya!”

Tendo and Noya laughed and continued drinking. As much as Asahi loved watching Noya goof off, he now felt outnumbered by high-energy weirdoes.

\----

“…You got a single bed…!?”

“Asahi, I got the tickets the day before departure! There weren’t any double cabins left, and I didn’t have enough money to get two overpriced last-second rooms!”

He didn’t even notice the single bed when he dropped off their stuff. He just put it down went right back out to the lounge. How could he miss that!?

“I can sleep on the floor, dude. It’s not a big deal,” Noya told him.

“No, no, I’ll sleep on the floor. You can have the bed.”

“No, you take the bed. I’ve slept in far worse places.”

“You’re the one that bought the tickets, dude. You should take the bed.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t mind the floor! And you’re so big and tall, you’d be uncomfortable sleeping on the floor. I’m small, so I fit anywhere!”

“Just because you fit doesn’t mean you should sleep there! You deserve to take the bed!”

Noya cocked an eyebrow at him. “And you _don’t_ deserve the bed?”

“I don’t not deserve a bed, but you deserve the bed more.”

“Why, ‘cause I bought the tickets? That doesn’t mean anything.”

“It does mean something. And you’re covered in scratches and bruises from yesterday, you should recover, and you’ll do that better in a bed!”

“Dude, hello!? You have a massive cut all across your chest, idiot. You’re way more injured than me!”

“I’m fine, though!”

Noya put a hand on his hip and glared. “Asahi, I’m getting to the point where I might just tie you to the bed.”

He gulped. _That’d be hot- no, not the point_. Asahi coughed. “If you’re that insistent, then fine, but I’m not happy about it.”

Nishinoya flashed his teeth. “I win! Haha!” He stole one of the blankets and began spreading it across the floor.”

Asahi couldn’t help but smile. “You’re so stubborn.”

\----

After a bizarre dream about playing volleyball, Asahi woke up in the middle of the night. He glanced down at where Noya was sleeping on the floor, limbs askew as usual. What a jerk; Asahi felt awful about making him sleep on the hard wood floor.

He grunted slightly as he sat up, then swung his legs off the bed. Noya was probably going to kill him for this, but he’d deal with that later. Silently, he stood and approached the sleeping man, carefully scooping him up in his arms. Nishinoya was always a deep sleeper. He placed Noya slowly on the bed and covered him with the blanket, then settled into the nest on the floor. Now, he’d be a bit more at ease as he slept. Knowing Noya wasn’t as comfortable as he could be was messing with him.

\----

“Asahi. Asahi. Asahi!”

He opened his eyes to see Noya’s face inches from his. He was glaring, but wore a tell-tale smile, indicating his non-seriousness. It made Asahi’s heart beat a little faster. “H-wha-“

“Why was I on the bed, Asahi? You picked me up and moved me there?”

Asahi gulped. He glanced to one side, then the other, acutely aware of the hands next to his head. “Well, I couldn’t sleep too well. It was bothering me.”

Noya’s mock annoyance turned into a concerned look. “It bothered you that much?”

“W-well, yeah. It was bugging me a lot. I’m a lot more comfortable when you’re more comfortable.”

Noya’s cheeks became slightly pink as his eyes widened. “Oh.” He sat up and climbed off Asahi. “Ugh, fine, I’ll let it go this time. You big dork.”

Asahi hid his face behind his hand. “Sh-shut up.”


	3. Chapter 3

When Asahi finished tying up his hair and came down to the lounge, he found Nishinoya already chattering away with Tendo and another new stranger. This one was the tallest guy in the room. His smooth, grey hair flopped a little when he laughed at something Tendo said. Asahi chuckled to himself. Noya was way better at making new friends than he was.

Upon noticing him, Tendo and Noya waved him over. The new stranger looked over to him, bright green eyes focusing on the new conversation member. Asahi smiled and joined them.

“Yo, Asahi! This is Lev!” Noya pointed a thumb in Lev’s direction. “We caught him at the juice bar getting the weirdest combo of sour berries either of us have ever seen.”

Asahi laughed. “Another guy you’ve bonded with over weird juice preferences?” He offered a hand to Lev, who shook it. “I’m Asahi. Good to meet you.”

Lev waved his lanky arms in the air and stretched. “Nice to meet you, too! The super sour stuff really wakes me up.” He shifted into a different stretching position. “Plus, I kinda like how it burns.”

“Dude, I totally get you!” Tendo cried. “That’s why I go for the spicy stuff, too!”

“I’m not too good with spicy myself,” Lev laughed.

“I’ll eat just about anything!” Noya proudly declared.

“You won’t eat anything rotten, but that’s about it,” Asahi mused.

“What’re you guys going to Kanto for?” Lev asked.

“Visiting Viridian,” Noya over-simplified. That was probably fine. Their story was a bit too weird to share casually.

“I’m headed to Mt. Moon,” Tendo answered. “You?”

“I’m visiting my relatives in Lavender Town!”

“Woah, lavender town?” Tendo curved his body and tilted his head to the side. “Isn’t that the one with that ghost tower? That’s awesome, I’m jealous. Wish I was born there.”

Lev chuckled. “It’s mostly really nice! Most of those rumors about the tower are true, though.”

Asahi shuddered. “Those stories always freaked me out a little.”

Noya made a smug face. “You baby,” he teased.

“I know, I know,” Asahi chuckled. “It is pretty interesting, though.”

“Hey, wait,” Lev interrupted. “We’ll all be going in the same direction up until Saffron City, won’t we?”

Asahi thought about it. “That’s true. I didn’t realize that.”

“You guys wanna travel together?” Noya asked.

“Hmm, I think that sounds fun,” Tendo answered.

Lev nodded. “I like traveling with other people more than I like going alone.”

“Well, then. Looks like we’ve got a party of sorts,” Asahi said.

“Yeah!” Noya made a fist and put it in the middle of the circle they stood in.

Asahi smiled and put his own fist in, followed by Lev and Tendo. This was probably going to be interesting.

“Oh! I totally forgot. What kind of pokemon do you guys have?” Lev asked. “I’ve got a persian and a delcatty.”

“I’ve got my good buddy jolteon,” Noya answered.

Asahi smiled. “I have an arcanine and a clefairy.”

“Huh. Somehow, that suits you,” Tendo told him. “I have a sableye, a sudowoodo, and a goofy little kekleon.”

Sableye, sudowoodo, kekleon? Now that seemed familiar, somehow.

\----

Only about two minutes into their walk on route 6, they ran into some trouble. Of course they did. Asahi wasn’t expecting anything less.

“Route… closed? Seriously?” Lev pouted. “This is the only way to get to Saffron from here without some serious detouring!”

Tendo squinted. Something was brewing in his head.

“It doesn’t even say why it’s closed, that’s the annoying part,” Nishinoya groaned.

“What if…” Tendo began. “Hear me out here, what if we just… kept going?”

“Wait, you wanna ignore it?” Asahi asked.

“I mean, yeah.” Tendo glanced around. “It’s not like there’s anyone here. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Good point,” Nishinoya said.

“Getting arrested,” Asahi mumbled.

Lev nodded. “I don’t see why not. Let’s hop it!”

Before Asahi could say another word, Tendo and Lev were already shimmying over the makeshift fence blocking their path.

“Damn tall people,” Noya hissed. He tried to lift a leg over the fence, but his hips were below the top, so he stumbled. “Asahi, throw me.”

“Throw you!? No!”

“C’mon, Asahi! You can manhandle me, no problem! You’re plenty strong enough.”

_Does he realize how that sounds?_ “I’ll pick you up, but I’m not gonna throw you.”

“Boo!” Tendo droned from the other side. “Throw him, coward!”

Lev giggled. “Yeah, give him a good toss!”

“I will not throw him!” He lifted Noya by the waist, then watched him shuffle his legs across the top. He dropped him down carefully.

“Asahi, you totally could’ve thrown me.”

He glared. “Just because I can doesn’t mean I should!”

“Aw, I’m just kidding you.” Nishinoya smiled and punched his shoulder. “You big sweetheart.”

They continued on their path with no real indication of why that route was closed.

\----

“Hey! You four! Stop right now!”

“Aw, fuck, is that a cop!?” Tendo sputtered.

“Holy shit, what do we do?” Lev asked.

“Worst comes to worst…” Noya put on his serious face. “We scatter.”

“We’re gonna die,” Asahi whined.

The stranger stopped in front of them and glared. “You aren’t authorized to be out here. There’s a group of drowzee and hypno migrating through here today. If anyone sets them off, they could get upset and cause trouble for Saffron residents. The whole town could fall asleep! As an officer of the law, I’m authorized to arrest you under suspicion of poaching and for trespassing!”

“I’m sorry, sir, we had no idea!” Lev innocently rubbed the back of his head.

“Bullshit. The route is completely fenced off on both sides.”

Tendo waved a hand dismissively. “See, you didn’t have any signs saying anything about migrating pokemon. How were we supposed to know?”

He glared even further. “There were signs stating that the route is closed. You ignored them. It doesn’t matter why they’re closed. You can’t just ignore police signs.”

Noya laughed nervously. “Was there a sign? I didn’t even notice.”

The officer growled slightly. “Signs are prominently displayed in bright yellow, and they’re bolted to the fencing. There’s no way you wouldn’t have seen it.”

This cop wasn’t letting up. The last thing they needed was to get arrested, much less for something as stupid as a poorly-enforced route closure. He scrambled to think of something.

“Oh, come on now!” Tendo laughed. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It is a big deal, it’s a matter of the law!”

“Listen here, you!” Asahi stepped forward aggressively and clenched his fists. “My wife is in labor at the Saffron Hospital as we speak! I swore that I’d be there with her!”

The officer’s glare turned to a look of confusion. “You wha-“

“We have to be there for her! Do you have any idea how panicked she was about giving birth!? As her family, we need to support her. This is a big moment in her life, as well as mine! Do you want me to miss the birth of my son!?” He stepped even closer to the officer, towering over him.

He stepped back slightly. “Well, of course not, I-“

“We had no choice but to come through here, and I’m not about to let my darling wife down!” Asahi screamed into his face. He furrowed his brows in mock desperation and sadness. “We need to get there as fast as we can! She-“

“Okay, alright! Holy shit, calm the hell down! Just go!” The officer backed away and rubbed his arm nervously. “Geez, you don’t need to get in my face about it!”

Asahi began sprinting down the path, followed by his three baffled companions.

\----

“Holy shit, Asahi! That was amazing!” Noya laughed wildly. They were a safe distance away from the cop, and the city was coming into view. “Where did that even come from?”

Asahi was pale and trembling. “That was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done.”

“That was awesome,” Tendo assured him.

He shook his head. “I feel like my soul left my body.”

“Well, you look old enough that you could have a wife that could be in labor,” Lev told him. “And that was some great acting. I was almost buying it, and I was in on it!”

“But I’m only 21! Ugh… I think I’m gonna throw up…” Asahi clutched his stomach.

“Man, fuck cops,” Tendo stated. “You should be proud of shutting that asshole down.”

“As much as I’m inclined to agree, that doesn’t mean the situation wasn’t terrifying.”

“You’re so buff, though!” Lev laughed. “You could’ve taken him if he wanted to pick a fight.”

Asahi felt terror twist in his stomach and across his face. “That would really get us arrested!”

Nishinoya wrapped an arm around him. “Aw, don’t worry. I doubt something like this would ever happen again. And again, that was super cool. Like, you were a straight up creative genius, not to mention a fantastic actor! I felt the urge to propose on the spot!”

_I wish he wouldn’t say crap like that so lightly._

“What’s important,” Noya continued, “is that you got us out of there. You saved us, dude! We would’ve been completely fucked without you.”

“Thanks, Noya.” Asahi loosened the grip on his stomach a bit. It wouldn’t have made him feel that much better, but Nishinoya was the one saying it.

He really had it bad, didn’t he?

\----

“I guess this is goodbye, then!” Noya said.

“Who knows? Maybe we’ll see each other again sometime!” Lev smiled.

Tendo rested his arms behind his head. “We very well could. I don’t plan on staying here too long. If you aren’t either, we might run into each other on the boat again.”

Lev laughed. “I’m staying for a while. It’s been kind of a long time since I’ve seen my family.”

“You’re not staying for long, Tendo?” Asahi asked.

“Naaah. If I’m away for too long, Wakatoshi-kun would get all upset.” He lowered his eyelids playfully. “Can’t have that, can we?”

“Ah, yeah, you got obligations too, huh?” Noya gave Asahi a slap on the back. “So do we. We’ll only be staying for a short while.”

“Maybe we’ll see each other again, then!” Tendo sang. He turned and waved. “Bye, then, Azumane! Lev! Nishi-kun!”

“Bye!” Noya and Lev called in unison. Asahi copied them just after.

“I should get going, too.” Lev picked his bag up off the ground and swung it around his shoulder. “До свидания, ребята!”

“Do- Do svi what now?”

Lev laughed as he walked. He turned his head back to look at them. “It’s Russian, dude! I said ‘later, dudes!’”

“Oh!” Noya laughed and waved. “Dough svadoya, bro!”

“Bye, Lev!” Asahi said.

Lev just laughed and gave a final wave.

“I don’t think you said that right,” Asahi whispered to him.

“I said it perfectly.”

\----

“Oh- Oh my god, he said Wakatoshi, didn’t he?”

Noya blinked. “Huh?”

“Tendo. He said something about a guy named Wakatoshi- oh man, I know why he sounded familiar now.”

“What do you mean, Asahi?”

“Wakatoshi. As in, Ushijima Wakatoshi. The champion of Hyuukai.”

“Oh, wow! Wait, would that make Tendo-“

“Tendo Satori, one of the fucking Elite Four.”

Noya’s mouth dropped open. They were silent for a moment.

“HOW DID WE NOT NOTICE THAT!?” Asahi shouted.

“HOLY SHIT, HE WAS FAMOUS, WHAT THE FUCK!?”

They screamed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mentions of abuse

It quickly became obvious that Nishinoya had underestimated the amount of time and effort it would take to cut through the wilderness between the Viridian Forest and Saffron City. Darkness had fallen before they’d even made it halfway to their destination. Trekking to and through Celadon City was no problem, but despite the distance between Celadon and Viridian being the shortest of any possible route, there was no road between them.

Asahi wouldn’t have found that particularly odd if not for the larger strangeness around Kanto. He’d looked at several different maps, and, without exception, all roads either ran north to south or east to west. There were no diagonal roads in the entire region. It was almost unsettling. If Asahi had come alone, he probably would’ve kept thinking about how strange and inefficient the infrastructure was, but those thoughts left him pretty quickly thanks to the near-feral man he was traveling with.

“Why is this forest less special than Viridian Forest!?” said man wailed. “It’s thick, it’s huge- it’s like it keeps getting bigger and bigger the more we go!”

Asahi gulped. “Maybe… maybe think of a different way of describing it?’

Noya quirked an eyebrow at him. “Well, it’s also pretty dang hot, and it’s wet, and everywhere we go, it’s always slippery.”

_Was he doing that on purpose…?_ “Noya, please, dude…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nishinoya sighed.

Asahi glared at him.

He laughed. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Seriously, though, why the hell is it so wet and foggy?”

“We are kinda in the middle of nowhere. I guess you can’t really predict what nowhere will be like.”

“Regardless, this sucks! We’ll have to sleep in the mud!”

“We brought sleeping bags, you know.”

Noya gestured wildly at the ground. “We have to sleep in the sleeping bags IN THE MUD!”

“I know, and it sucks, but at least we won’t get mud on us.”

“Sleeping on mud, even if you’re not directly touching it, sucks. A lot. It squelches under whatever you’re laying on, and you can feel it, all slimy, and it feels so gross, it’s like-“

“Alright, I get it, I get it, I get it. You’re gonna make me sick.” Asahi physically shook the image out of his head. “Anyways, we can always make some kind of surface out of foliage. We should probably try to make something to block possible rain, too.”

“What, like, a stick tent?” Nishinoya laughed. “I love me a good stick tent. I built them all the time when I was super little!”

He smiled. “We should be good, then.”

Nishinoya nodded. “Can you help me grab some big sticks to use? You’ve got beefy, manly arms, you could carry a buttload.”

“Alright, but I’m not gonna carry everything. You’re far from having baby arms, you’re pretty strong yourself.”

“Aw, thanks!”

\----

“Hey, if you made these forts when you were really little, wouldn’t that mean you were making them in Viridian Forest?”

Noya finished tying the rope around his newest stick addition. “Yeah. I built them all the time! There were plenty of good sticks to use around there. Plus, that forest is a lot less… messy than this one. There was a lot of soft mosses and stuff, so sleeping out there was pretty cozy. Most days, I’d even make myself a moss blanket!”

“You say that like you were spending almost every night in the woods,” Asahi chuckled.

“Yeah, well…” His hands stilled. “Sometimes I just didn’t want to be home at night.”

Oh, shit, maybe he shouldn’t have said that. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“No, no, it’s fine.” He finished up with his latest addition and sat on the rock behind him. “It’s about time I told you, anyway. Y’know, you’re one of the few people that hasn’t tried to pry into my past. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but you never imposed.” Nishinoya smiled, but it looked a bit sad. “Thank you for that. It means a lot that you’re considerate and didn’t ask about stuff when I wasn’t ready.”

Asahi was a bit surprised by that. “Of course. I don’t ever want you to talk about stuff if you’re not comfortable with it.”

His melancholy smile became a grin. “See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re a really great guy.”

Asahi felt his face heat up, so he turned away slightly. “Thanks.”

“Anyways, it’s about time I told you some more stuff about me. I probably should’ve told you sooner, to be honest. I’ve trusted you completely for a long time now, I just… you’re special. Kinda. It made me more nervous to think about talking to you about it than thinking about talking to, like, Tanaka or Ennoshita-“

“Hold on, stop.” As curious as he was about what “special” meant, he wasn’t going to let this continue. “You don’t have to justify yourself. You aren’t obligated to share personal stuff with me if you don’t want to. Whatever your reason, it’s justified because it’s your life and your personal business. It almost feels like you’re trying to apologize to me, which you truly don’t need to do. Not even remotely.”

“Man…” Noya rubbed his now-wet eyes. “What the hell would I do without you? You’re so incredible.”

Asahi felt that compliment run through his bones like a geyser.

“Alright, you know that I moved to Hyuukai when I was 8, and you know that my moms have been together for a long time.”

Asahi nodded.

“Thing is… They met after we moved. I came with just my biological mother, then she met her wife, my second mom.”

Asahi had always assumed that they’d moved to Hyuukai together and brought their son with them. He nodded and listened as Noya continued.

“My mom was married to my biological father up until she took me and left the region. They got a divorce only about a week before we left.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, my father didn’t want custody or anything, and my mom didn’t bother trying to get him to somehow pay child support. She had been saving up money for when she’d leave my father for years, apparently. She knew she would have to leave eventually. He wasn’t exactly… a great guy, much less a good father or husband. He wasn’t an addict, an alcoholic, or someone suffering from any kind of mental illness, he was just a pure scumbag, and there was no real reason for his warped bullshit. At least if he fell into one of those categories, he could’ve gotten some help, and maybe he wouldn’t have been such a dick.”

Asahi nodded slowly.

“I didn’t like being home at night because that was when he got home from work. Both my mom and my father worked, but my mom came home much earlier. A little before I came home from school, actually. When I came home, my mom was always so excited to talk to me about how my day went and how I was doing. She always smiled. But when my father came home, she was the opposite. She always looked so miserable and tense. Almost always, he’d start demanding things from her and yelling. I rarely slept in my own house because their fights were so loud. At least, he was. My mom usually just sat there and took it.”

“I’m really sorry, Noya.”

“Everything’s okay now, don’t worry. It was really awful at the time, though. I asked her why she was married to him if she didn’t love him a little after we moved. She said that they were dating as teenagers, and when she was 18, she found out she was pregnant. My father told her that he’d help her raise me and would stay with her no matter what. He was caring and sweet, I guess. Just after I was born, they got married, and that’s when Mom realized that he wasn’t the loving guy she thought he was. He completely changed. It’s like he gave up on the charade once he’d- he’d conquered her with marriage, or something like that. It’s really gross. He was gross.”

“Mm.” Asahi nodded again.

“After he showed his true colors, he felt no shame or hesitation in expressing his thoughts. He really believed that my mom was his property or something. He hated that she worked, he hated that she didn’t cater to his whims, he hated that she would still speak up to him every now and then. He rarely hit her or anything, but every so often, he’d completely lose it and try to beat her up. Like when my mom told him to sign the divorce papers. That was the worst time.” He sighed. “Mom used to tell me that the only upside was he didn’t ever hurt me. He yelled at me all the time, but he never once even lifted a finger. On top of all the yelling and screaming, he’d also insult my mother to my face.”

“Oh, god.”

He nodded. “It wasn’t great. Hearing him call my mom a ‘dirty fucking woman’ or ‘his personal bitch’ was really shitty. I’ve always loved my mom. She was always kind, but fair, and she loves me so much to this day. I eventually started tuning it out, but it took me a while to warm up to the hilarity of the word ‘bitch.’ I’m glad I did, though. Disingenuously calling people bitches is how you make them know you love them, if you ask me.”

Asahi chuckled.

“Anyways, he hardly cared about me, so he didn’t really give a shit when my mom took me with her. But I know he still lives in Viridian. Over and over, he would talk about how he’d never leave that city because it was his home. It’s one of the few things he repeatedly told me that wasn’t awful. So that’s how I know he’s still here.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I know there’s little to no chance of me actually running into him somehow, but the thought of it just…” He shuddered slightly, then took a deep breath. “So that’s my story! Not as dramatic as some, but it’s just kinda hard to talk about-“

Before he could finish, Asahi wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. “Thanks for trusting me. I know it must’ve been rough to tell me all that.”

Noya gripped him in return. “Yeah. Thanks, Asahi.”

Asahi didn’t miss the breaking in his voice, but he decided not to mention it.

\----

As glad as Asahi had been to sleep next to the object of his affections, he was mortified at the whole situation. It was only natural for him to be so nervous, and on top of all that, Noya was a completely wild sleeper. It took him a while to fall asleep, and once he finally did, he was out like a light.

When he woke up, Nishinoya was completely wrapped around him, legs and all. He even had his face nestled in the crook of Asahi’s neck.

He panicked motionlessly until he somehow anxietied himself to sleep again.

\----

The second time he woke up, Nishinoya was rolling up his sleeping bag with a tint of red across his face.

“G’mornin, Noya,” he croaked.

Noya flinched a bit in surprise, his blush growing worse. “M-morning, Asahi! You sleep well? Anything weird? Any strange things this morning?”

Well, there definitely was something very strange he woke up to, but Noya had been asleep, so he couldn’t have known Asahi had noticed. “Strange? Uh, no. What do you mean?”

“Oh, thank god- I mean- nothing, nothing! Don’t worry about it.” The laugh that escaped his lips was the most nervous sound Asahi had ever heard from him.

Oh dear. He must’ve woken up and freaked out about their positions. To be fair, Asahi did the same.

Asahi did the same…

Was Noya freaking out for the same reason as Asahi?

Nah, no way. It was probably just embarrassment over nearly revealing himself as a clingy sleeper. Or, well, he actually did reveal that, but he didn’t think he did. Whatever. It really didn’t matter. The odds of that working out were less likely than a zangoose and a seviper being friends.

\----

Half a day. Asahi was pretty athletic, but half a damn day. Walking and running for that long could’ve been some kind of strange torture, but they made it to Viridian Forest. Somehow, Nishinoya was still filled with energy, even though Asahi was totally winded. It was almost infuriating.

“Dude, you need to take a rest?” He asked.

Asahi groaned. “No, no. We made it. We’re just gonna be walking from here.”

“Ah, alright.”

“Noya, how aren’t you tired?” Asahi wheezed.

“I dunno. I just feel really great today! Like there’s all this energy flowing through me!”

“First you can talk to pokemon, now you’re all jazzed up in the Viridian Forest. What are you, some kind of forest nymph?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m the fucking child of the forest or whatever. That’s me.” Noya laughed.

“The what?”

“You don’t know about those legends? Well, uh,” he gathered his thoughts for a moment. “Supposedly, every, like, decade or so, there’s a child born in or around the Viridian Forest that possesses its powers or something. Obviously, it’s bullshit, ‘cause that doesn’t make any sense. Like, where’s that power coming from? The trees? The dirt? Legends never say.”

“…Noya, are you joking?”

“Huh? No?”

Asahi pinched the bridge of his nose. “You didn’t think… you know, maybe that would have something to do with getting kidnapped by a giant lightning monster that you can speak to?”

Nishinoya looked confused for a moment, but then his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped slightly. “Oh shit, what if I actually am a child of the forest?”

“You didn’t- you didn’t consider that at all!?”

“That would make so much sense, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes!” Asahi cried with exasperation.

“But… how come I haven’t been talking to pokemon this whole time?”

“You ever touch foreheads with a pokemon before?”

Noya thought about it. “Only jolteon. And sure, I could tell what he was thinking, but I thought that was just because we were on the same wavelength or something.” Noya began to crunch his feet on a pile of twigs and sticks in his path. “Fuck, I was born with a blond streak in my hair, too! That’s not normal at all, is it?”

Asahi felt his jaw fall. He quickly closed his mouth and shook his head. “How did I fall in love with such a massive idiot?”

Noya stopped stomping and turned to Asahi. “Sorry, what’d you say?”

“Nothing! I- uh, I just said you were a bit of an idiot.”

“Aw, you flatter me. I’m one half of a whole idiot.”

Asahi rolled his eyes. “Who’s the other half?”

“Depends. Tanaka’s a full idiot, so he can’t be a half. Ennoshita is only about a quarter idiot at most, so that wouldn’t make a full idiot. You’re pretty dumb sometimes!” Noya laughed. “You’re the other idiot half!”

“Are you complimenting me or insulting me…?”

“I don’t know. I’m half an idiot, remember?” Noya pushed some branches aside. “But together, we make one whole, beautiful idiot.”

“How am I half an idiot, anyway?”

Noya snorted. “Dude, remember how you’re really bad at talking to people? And that time you almost cried because some children called you an ursaring? And then you approached them to talk to them and they ran away screaming because it was dark and you looked like a murderer? And that time Tanaka called you a bear and you didn’t know what that meant and thought he was calling you fat? And the time Tsukishima managed to convince you that a pokemon used metal sound on you and got you high off it somehow? And-“

“Alright, okay, I get your point.”

Noya pointed at himself confidently. “What I lack in common sense and general knowledge, you lack in confidence and social skills. The perfect match, am I right?”

_Holy fuck did he really just say that what the fuck._ “You’re so incredibly right, Noya,” Asahi deadpanned (despite his inner turmoil.)

That stupid, blabbering mouth of his was going to bite him in the ass someday.

\----

“So, do you… know exactly where we’re supposed to be going?”

Noya whined.

“That’s a no?”

“The thunder-beast-thing said it’d just show up once we undergo some kind of guidance! I thought it would just kinda happen!”

“What kind of guidance?”

Nishinoya sighed with mild annoyance. “I don’t even know! Why didn’t I ask!?”

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out somehow, Noya.” Asahi put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “It won’t be the end of the line.”

Noya gave him a suspicious glare. “Do you even believe that yourself?”

Asahi’s voice cracked. “No, I don’t! I think we’re gonna die out here!”

“You can’t convince me to believe something that you don’t even believe!”

“Well, the only hope here I have is you, alright!?” Asahi sighed. “Any time I think the end is coming, you always find some way to pull through. Even if I don’t have any confidence in myself, I can have confidence in you. And if I can have confidence in you, then I want you to have confidence in yourself, too. You’re amazing. I don’t know how you do it.”

Noya’s face softened. “Dude, you know I think the same thing about you, right? Whenever I think something is impossible or I’m out of options, you somehow swoop in and find a way to fix everything.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. And you don’t ever believe in yourself, but I believe in you.”

Well. Shit. Asahi didn’t know what to say to that.

“I guess…” Noya’s cheeks grew pink. “You’re always there for me when I can’t be there for myself. So… I just wish you saw in yourself what I see in you.”

Holy crap, no man had ever been that adorable in the entirely of Asahi’s life. _I might have a heart attack._

Noya stood awkwardly in the uncomfortable silence, fidgeting and darting his eyes around.

“I-“

“So-“

Asahi chuckled. “You go first.”

“Oh, no, you should.”

“I uh- I think it’s good we make a good pair.”

Noya smiled. “I was pretty much gonna say the same thing.”

A wild rattata nipped at Nishinoya’s leg.

“Hm?” Noya leaned down slightly. “What’s going on?”

Another rattata skittered up behind him. Then another. Then one jumped on Asahi’s shoulder. Then two more came.

Asahi stared at the pokemon. “What the heck is up with these guys?”

Nishinoya shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

“Noya. You can talk to pokemon.”

“Oh! Right!” He crouched down in front of one of the rattata and gently touched foreheads with it. “Uh, I think they want us to follow them.”

Asahi clapped his hands together and pointed at them. “Guidance!”

Noya mimicked the gesture. “Guidance!”

They ran about excitedly, then gathered into a pack. This was gonna be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

After just a few minutes of following the little purple critters, they found themselves at the entrance of a small cave. It was covered in vines, and trees and shrubbery framed and crossed the opening like it had been abandoned for many years. The rattata each crawled through the openings in the foliage, most of which were much too small for a person to fit through, but one opening looked large enough for even Asahi’s size.

Noya gestured to the hole. “After you.”

Asahi chuckled and pushed himself through the vines. His ass got caught in the opening briefly, but he was able to wiggle in. Noya laughed and called him thick.

The cave was pretty dark, but around a bend, a dim light shone. There were some mushrooms and grasses growing where they could, but mostly, the dirt was bare. The rattata patiently waited for Noya to climb through. Said man had a bit of difficulty with a shoe getting stuck, but he managed to make it through.

For some reason, the rattata didn’t seem to want to continue past that point. They all simply turned in the direction of the dim light around the corner and sat down, looking at the pair expectantly.

“Do you think it’s some kind of sacred place?” Asahi whispered as they began walking.

“No fucking clue,” he whispered back.

And then, they turned around the curve of the cave.

A massive white lotus, at least half as tall as Asahi, was growing in the center of an incredibly small pond- no, it looked more like a puddle. Surrounding it was the greenest grass and ferns Asahi had ever seen in his life. Tiny flowers of all colors grew all over the ground, thriving in the bright beam of sunlight that cascaded down from an opening in the ceiling. The soft petals of the lotus almost glistened in the light. It looked magical, in a way. Perhaps it was magical. At that point, Asahi wouldn’t question it. Curling vines and lichens delicately draped down from the natural sunroof, framing the lotus at the center in a thin curtain. It was an oasis of life in the middle of a small cavern, centered around the impossibly perfect white flower thriving in the tiny pool of crystalline water.

Asahi nearly forgot how to breathe.

“I don’t know why, but this place makes me feel… good,” Noya said suddenly. “It’s like I belong here or something. I feel content.”

“Really? Do you know anything about this?”

“Never seen this shit in my life, much less heard about it.” He slowly walked toward the lotus, eyes wandering about the cavern.

Asahi followed him, intrigued by the white lotus. It almost appeared to glow from within, but the sun must have been creating the illusion.

“That’s it. That’s what it is.”

Asahi was about to ask what he meant when he saw the center of the lotus. It was filled with a glowing, slightly golden liquid that sparkled in the sunlight. It was clear; that was the life dew. The aura around the place felt powerful and sacred in a way that only something with such power could produce.

After a moment, Nishinoya cleared his throat. “You have a bottle or something?”

Oh, right. They needed to take some. “Uh… I have a water bottle. There’s not much left, I can just dump it out.” He fished the bottle (reusable, of course) out of his bag and dumped the couple of ounces that remained into the puddle-pond the lotus was growing from.

Nishinoya took it and delicately pushed some petals aside. The movement seemed to make the dew glow even brighter. He delicately dipped the bottle, the contact causing it to shimmer and stir. “I almost feel like we’d get arrested for taking this. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah.” It really did feel like that. They had found the ancient treasure hidden in the temple, and they were about to take it. Asahi half-expected some kind of trap to be set off.

“Well…” Noya spoke as he twisted the cap on. “I guess we got what we came for, huh?”

“I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.”

“It looks like gold lube.”

“…Noya…”

\----

The trek back to Saffron was grueling. It wasn’t particularly challenging or anything, but it was long and tedious. They’d already gone through the area, so it went faster than the first trip, but it was still long enough to push their arrival in Saffron to the middle of the night. By the time they reached the pokemon center, Asahi felt about ready to pass out. Noya, on the other hand, seemed to be too deep in thought to sleep.

“You doing alright?” Asahi asked.

Noya shifted his posture on the futon he was sitting on. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“…You sure?”

He sighed. “No. I’ve just got a lot on my mind is all.”

Asahi sat up. “You wanna talk about any of it?”

Nishinoya considered it for a moment. “Well, one thing is this whole situation with those beasts. I mean, we have the life dew or whatever, but now what?”

“I think we just go back to Hyuukai and give it to them.”

“Yeah, but it all just feels weird. Why me, y’know? I’m discovering that I can talk to pokemon and have some kind of healing powers- all that ‘child of the forest’ stuff- why me? I know it probably doesn’t make sense to wonder about the ‘why,’ but I can’t help it. I’m not anything particularly special, relatively speaking. What am I supposed to do, now that I know who I am?”

“I don’t think you need to do anything, honestly. You don’t have any sudden new obligations. I get it, though. Is it like you feel you have to do something with this new information?”

Noya nodded.

“Not to this degree, but similar thinking happens to me all the time. I learn something and I think ‘oh, god, I should have known this all along’ or something along those lines. I know it’s unfair to myself, but I still think like that. I guess when I say this, I’m being a hypocrite, but I don’t want you to feel pressured by all this. You, uh…” Asahi thought for a moment. “You’re still Noya. You’re still the same you as you were a few days ago.”

Nishinoya seemed to contemplate Asahi’s words for a moment, then flopped down on his back. “Yeah. I’m still me. It’s not like anything has changed.” He glanced at Asahi. “Thank you.”

Asahi smiled. “Anything else you wanna talk about?”

“Mm…” He sighed. “Nah.”

Well, obviously, more was on his mind, but Asahi wasn’t going to probe him. “Alright. I’m gonna get some sleep. I feel like I’m dead.” He re-nestled himself under his blanket and closed his eyes.

“G’night, Asahi.”

“’Night.”

Then, Asahi was out like a light.

\----

Jolteon was pawing at his face.

Asahi sat up and gave him a head rub, but Noya was nowhere to be found. “Where’d your trainer go, bud?”

Jolteon just yipped and ran in a circle.

Strangely, everything was already packed. Even Asahi’s things, minus a change of clothes and toiletries.

Well… he was probably fine. Asahi might as well use the bathroom and get ready.

In the middle of brushing his teeth, Noya busted into the bathroom. “Asahi! I checked us out and got everything packed and I just went out and got these bagels!”

The one other guy in the bathroom, who was washing his hands, startled and flung water everywhere.

“Noya, not so loud. This is a public bathroom.”

“Ah- yeah, sorry. I’ll uh- I’ll wait outside.” He sheepishly backtracked out of the room and closed the door slowly.

“I am so sorry about that,” Asahi told the stranger.

“That’s alright,” he chuckled. “He’s certainly full of energy.”

“He sure is.”


	6. Chapter 6

The bagels Noya bought were very good, but that was vastly overshadowed by how good it felt to be back at the port. The closed-off route they had trespassed across was open, so they had no issue getting through, but Asahi was getting tired of all the walking. Even though he was pretty athletic, the sheer amount of terrain to cross was making him insane. Now, it was all over, and they would get to sit on a nice boat- coincidentally, the same boat that had taken them there in the first place.

After they finished settling in, Asahi instantly gave out. The mental and physical toll was just too much. Nishinoya was perfectly fine, though, and it almost made Asahi angry. Freaky forest giving the freaky man all that boundless energy- it must have had a residual effect, because Noya went running back up to their room to get something, leaving poor, weak Asahi to sink even further into his chair in the lounge, watching the spry youth frolic.

“Hm? Is that Azumane-san?”

Asahi turned to the voice and saw a familiar pair of wide eyes staring back at him. “Tendo?”

“So we really did run into each other again! Wow… must be fate.” Tendo glanced around. “Where’s Nishi-kun?”

“He went back to our room to grab something.”

“Ah.” Tendo took a seat next to Asahi. “Say… are you in love with Nishi-kun?”

Asahi choked. “What!? How- how did you-“

“Just a guess.” He smiled.

“That’s the guess monster for you…” Asahi sighed.

“Oh, so you do know who I am!”

Asahi laughed nervously. “We only realized after we split up from you. Sorry.”

“Aw, no, don’t be! I’d prefer for people not to make their first impressions on my reputation.” Tendo chuckled lightly. “Though, people tend to have negative reactions to my actual personality, too.” He shrugged with a smile. “Eh! You two are very interesting, that’s what I’m getting at here.”

“Interesting?”

“Mm, yeah. It’s an interesting dynamic you have going on. Intriguing. And you’re head over heels for him, aren’t you?”

Asahi felt his face turn red. “Well, yeah, maybe I am. So what?”

“Ah, love!” He leaned back dramatically and put the back of his hand to his forehead. “What a sweet thing!” He glanced at Asahi, who still felt a bit mortified, and smirked. “No need to worry, I think you’d make a good couple. You balance each other out, but you’re similar enough to have a strong bond, yeah?”

“Uh… I think so, yeah.”

“I’m known for guessing my opponents moves before they make them, but I can also guess…” He made his fingers into a heart shape. “That you would make an excellent couple!”

“Wha-“

He waved a hand dismissively. “This is assuming you actually tell him, and I won’t go around saying anything. I just want my friends to be happy.”

“So… you think we’d make a good couple? Really?”

Tendo quirked an eyebrow. “My correct guessing rate is pretty high, Azumane-san.”

He chuckled a bit. “If you say so.”

Noya came dashing down the stairs and, upon seeing Tendo, grinned. He trotted over to them. “Tendo! Wow, I can’t believe we’re running into each other again!”

“Riiight?” Tendo rested his head onto his palms, fingers framing his face.

Asahi tried to listen to their conversation, but his mind kept wandering back to what Tendo told him. Would they make a good couple? Maybe, but Asahi would never find out anyway.

\----

Tendo, although a bit strange, was a sweet and funny man. Asahi was happy to make friends with him. When they arrived in Hyuukai, they exchanged contact information and parted ways. It was strange, having a celebrity as a friend, and it was very easy to forget. Tendo didn’t exactly act like he was famous or entitled.

\----

Asahi peered into the cavern, body hidden behind the walls of stone. “They’re still here, right?”

“They’ve gotta be. If they left, how would we get them the thing they want?”

“Yeah, but it’s been a week. A little over a week, if you count the time it took to get up here. What if we weren’t fast enough?”

Noya shrugged. “I don’t know how we could’ve been faster… maybe you’re right, though.” With his eyebrows furrowed, he approached the entrance. “HELLO?” he shouted.

Nishinoya’s voice echoed a few times, but there was no response.

Asahi sighed and released his tension. “Maybe they’re really gone.” He turned around and began to walk to a rock that looked like it would make a good chair.

“AAAAARRRRRAAAGGGHHHH!”

Asahi startled so hard that he fell face-first into the ground with a mindless string of random syllables.

“GRRRRROOOOOOOHHHH!”

He clamored around to see the cavern and, sure enough, the lightning beast stood at its mouth, staring intently at Nishinoya. An instinctual panic shot through Asahi’s bones, and it took a moment to remember that it wouldn’t hurt them.

…Probably wouldn’t hurt them.

“Hey. We’ve got the- uh, life dew-“ Nishinoya pulled the bottle out of his bag. “So now what do we do?”

The beast gestured into the cave with its head in an obvious “follow me” gesture.

Asahi picked himself up and walked with Nishinoya through the cave and into the massive chamber. The water beast stood across the cavern, fully at attention, with its eyes plastered onto the injured fire beast that laid before them. It looked a bit worse than before; each part of it with a bright color was slightly less saturated, and it seemed to have even less energy. It opened its eyes and glanced up at the humans with dull, tired eyes and blinked slowly.

“Poor thing…” Noya whispered.

Asahi nodded and kneeled. “Should we have it drink it, or is there something else we need to do?”

The thunder beast touched its forehead to Nishinoya’s.

“We need to… apply it to the wound, I guess. Like, just pour it on there.”

“The wound is on it’s belly, right?” He turned to the weak creature. “I’m gonna need you to roll over, alright? Wait, can you understand me…?”

Clearly, it could, as it tried its hardest to roll onto its back. Sadly, it was too weak to even do that, and all it accomplished was the raising of a paw.

“Alright, I’m gonna help you out, okay? I’m sorry if you don’t want to be touched, but we need to get you this medicine.” Cautiously, he placed a hand under its front leg and braced it with a gentle hand on its stomach. It took quite a bit of strength, but he managed to help get the beast almost entirely on its back.

“You’d make a good pokemon nurse, Asahi,” Nishinoya told him.

Asahi smiled. “I’ve considered it.”

“Alright, now I just…” Noya unscrewed the bottle and tipped it over the fire beast.

Golden liquid trickled down and splashed onto the fire beast’s wound, instantly making it glow like a torch. The light startled Asahi into closing his eyes, but once he adjusted, the sight was truly amazing. Somehow, the wound sucked up the dew like a sponge, drawing it into a golden, glittering light. As it did so, the wound became gradually smaller and smaller until all that was left was a faint scar. That, too, faded shortly. By the time Nishinoya had run out of dew, the fire beast looked like nothing had ever happened to it.

With a gruff, the fire beast rolled back over and stood proudly in front of Asahi and Nishinoya. It stared deeply into each of their eyes, then bowed his head deeply, lifting a paw. The gesture was so purely gratuitous that it almost felt wrong to be on the receiving end. Then, in turn, each of the other beasts mimicked the gesture. Having three massive, powerful creatures bowing to him was filling Asahi with a bizarre feeling of pride, intimidation, joy, and nervousness all in one. Judging by how Nishinoya shifted closer to Asahi and held onto his arm, his friend was feeling the same.

Then, just as quickly as their odd adventure began, all three beasts charged off faster than Asahi could follow. In an instant, he and Noya were alone in the cave.

“What… what just happened?” Nishinoya whispered, breath heavy.

“I think we did it,” Asahi told him.

The silence was heavy. It felt as though a giant balloon had been inflated inside the cavern, its edges pressing against the walls.

“I’m not really sure what to do now,” Noya said.

Asahi shook his head. “Me neither.”

He began to walk out of the cave, and Asahi followed. What more was there to do?

“I kinda expected more to happen,” Noya admitted. “I’m not sure how, but this all feels a bit…weird.”

“We still don’t even know what those creatures were.”

They stopped walking at the mouth of the cave, silent once more.

Then, Nishinoya busted out laughing.

Asahi looked at him like a deranged lunatic (that he was.) “What?”

“This whole thing! This was the weirdest week and a half of my fucking life!” He sat in the grass and continued to laugh. “What even just happened!?”

Asahi couldn’t help but giggle too. It was pretty funny. He plopped down next to Noya and smiled. “As terrifying as the beginning of all this was, I’m glad it happened. Going on that trip with you was fantastic.”

“Yeah, I’m glad my big, dear, handsome friend was with me.” Noya smirked.

“Mm.” Asahi sighed contentedly. “And I’m glad to have gone on a crazy adventure with the crazy, wild, fun guy I love.”

Wait.

_Fuck._

Nishinoya’s eyes widened, and his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. “What?”

“I- uh- fuck, it’s bitten me in the ass.” Asahi felt the blood drain from his face.

“You… did you seriously just say you love me?”

_Ah, great. Now he hates me._ “Well- I-…maybe…” He wanted to curl up like a pill bug, but knew he couldn’t. There was nowhere to run or hide. This was it.

“You…” Nishinoya lifted himself onto his knees and grabbed Asahi by the shirt collar, glaring. “You _colossal_ _fucking idiot!”_

Wow. Asahi expected an upset reaction, but this was even worse than his anxiety had told him it’d be.

“I can’t fucking believe you! You absolute dumbass!” Noya drew his face even closer to Asahi’s. “Have you not noticed me flirting with you? Ever!?”

Asahi gulped. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t feel like that, I’m a bad-“ He met Noya’s eyes, brain beginning to process what was being said. “You- hang on, what?”

“I have been in love with you for _3 fucking years!_ ” Noya released Asahi’s shirt and cupped Asahi’s face. “You never noticed me flirting? Not even once!?” His expression slowly morphed from frustrated to amused.

“Well… I thought you were joking around with me…” Asahi’s blood pulled a serious boomerang maneuver and shot back into his face like a rocket. “I mean- you’re so confident and handsome and funny and incredible, and I’m just… me.”

Noya’s annoyed expression returned. “Wait, you don’t think you’re handsome?”

“Uh…” Asahi felt like he could cry. This was all so overwhelming.

“Listen, Asahi, you’re hot as fuck. Like, seriously hot as fuck. You’re a big, strong, chiseled god that I have difficulty looking away from. You tall, sexy, absolutely stupid man.”

“Uh…”

“I wanna climb you like a treeko climbs a tree, Asahi. You’re the most gorgeous thing, let alone person, that I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

“Wh-what about Kiyoko?” Asahi stammered.

“Yeah, I liked Kiyoko for a long time. And then, I didn’t. I moved on from that phase years ago. She’s got nothing on you. Nobody has a single damn thing on you.”

“You… seriously… like me?”

Nishinoya narrowed his eyes. “Bitch, no. I love you.”

“Are you- are you sure?”

Noya laughed. “Man, sometimes I wonder if you’re so thick because you’re so… thick. God, you fucking gorgeous idiot.”

Gently, Noya pressed his lips against Asahi’s. It was nothing more than a quick peck, but Asahi felt like a train had just hit him. A train of butterfree and joy.

“You…” Noya grew sad and dropped his hands from his face. “You do actually… love me too, right? Am I misunderstanding…?”

Alright, now he was getting through Asahi’s dense skull. “Hey, wait, Noya…” With shaky hands, he held Nishinoya’s and returned them to his cheeks. “I… really do. I really, really love you.”

Noya’s eyes sparkled with joy, and he smiled excitedly. “Good.”

Asahi felt some hidden store of courage burst from within him and leaned forward, one of his hands wrapping around the back of Nishinoya’s head. Then…

He did it. He fucking did it.

Asahi melted into the kiss, fully allowing Nishinoya to take the lead as he shifted into the taller man’s lap. It was divine. Noya’s fingers ran through his messy hair as he deepened the kiss. Asahi couldn’t help but moan slightly. This was everything he’d ever wanted.

After a moment, Noya pulled away from him. “We’re boyfriends now.”

Asahi giggled. “Okay.”

He kissed him again.

\----

“Hey, Asahi! I think I might’ve figured out what those creatures were!” Nishinoya sat down across from Asahi and slid into the booth, a book between his arms.

Asahi blinked in surprise. He thought they were just going on a casual coffee date. “Really? What were they?”

“I was reading a bunch of stuff about legendary pokemon-“ Noya saw Asahi’s shocked face and rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I was actually sitting down and reading. For once. Anyways, I found this one book,” Noya said as he placed the book on the table. “It’s about the legendary dogs. Apparently, they’re from Johto myths and folklore- that’s probably why we’ve never heard of them- but some people have claimed to see them. I don’t know what they were doing here, but they must have traveled a long way to get to Hyuukai.”

“Hmm… That definitely is odd.”

Noya flipped open the book to a page containing sketches of the three dogs. “The lightning beast is raikou, the embodiment of thunder-“ He pointed at the pictures as he went.” The fire beast is entei, the dog of volcanoes, and the water beast is suicune, the aurora. Apparently, suicune can purify water, no matter how dirty or polluted.”

Asahi gazed at the art of the powerful beasts in wonder. “How lucky are we to have met these pokemon?”

“Not as lucky as I am to have you.” Nishinoya winked.

“You-“ He felt a small blush form. “You flatter me.”

Noya leaned across the table and kissed Asahi on the cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! :) Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
